Paternity and DNA identity testing is embedded into our routine genetic testing programme. What does paternity testing stand for? As an illustration, we would like to demonstrate a simple scenario:

Imagine that both your mother and your father each are in possession of a chain differing only in its colour; for example, that of your mother is red, and that of your father is green. Now, they decide to leave a chain to their daughter that should remind her of her parents. Therefore, they connect parts of both chains to form a new red-green coloured chain. This new two-coloured chain should now "connect" the child with its parents.

What has this got to do with our paternity test?

First, just imagine that the red chain represents the chromosomes of your mother, and the green those of your father. Now, you want to know whether you are really the child of your parents that carry red or green chromosomes ("chains"). In this case, you as well will carry red and green chromosomes only, nothing else. What in fact DNA analysis does is to look into the chromosomes to prove whether you have no differently "coloured chromosomes", except green and red ones. Finding other colours would unambiguously demonstrate that you have not descended from the father with "green chromosomes". Thus, you would have another father. This could be one example result of a paternity test.